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Instructions:
Students — The discussion boards to which you will contribute will be found on this page. Please scroll down to view it. Click the “Post Subject” link for the discussion board to add a posting.
Please make sure you have read, thoroughly understand, and follow the instructions for the Discussion Boards.
The purpose of the Discussion Boards is for students to be actively involved in raising the overall level of economic understanding and, in the process, to be contributing to everyone’s success (including their own) in the class.
Each of the two Discussion Boards will relate to an economic problem or area of discussion from the topics of the corresponding Learning Units.
Your participation in each of the discussion boards will be graded based upon your response to each of the original postings as well as replies to other participants’ postings. A quality response is one that relates a concept in the lesson to “real life events” (current events, historical events, your personal experience, etc.) or relates a concept in the present lessons being studied to a concept in previous lessons. A quality response is one that is well thought-out in relation to the question and contributes in a legitimate way to the level of economic understanding in the class.
When replying to other students’ postings, avoid simple replies like “I agree…” or simply “yes or no”, without explaining your reasoning. Tell why you hold a certain opinion or why you agree or disagree with the points in the posting. Try to make your dialogue easy to follow. If you are replying to a comment, include the comment to clarify your point. If you are asked a question, please respond. Be sensitive and respectful and always appropriate with your comments.
There is no specific length required for your postings, but please keep in mind that each discussion board is worth 105 points, so I will be looking for well-thought-out responses, responses to all parts of the posted topics, a correct understanding and interpretation of the material covered in this class, and thoughtful replies to other students’ postings.
Topic
In February 2020, just prior to the economic shutdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.5% (the lowest it had been since 1969!).With the economy essentially going into lockdown as a result of Covid-19, the unemployment rate in the United States skyrocketed to 14.7% just two months later, in April 2020. Now, two years later (April 2022), the unemployment rate has nearly fallen back to pre-pandemic levels and sits at 3.6%. (Note: The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) currently estimates the natural rate of unemployment for the U.S. economy at 4.45%.)
Unemployment rates this low are often viewed as being very good for the economy, so explain how low unemployment rates benefit the economy in terms of the following:
• productivity and GDP growth
• wages and wage growth
• consumer confidence
• labor supply & demand
• entitlement spending (make sure you understand the term “entitlement spending”)
Unemployment rates this low can also be viewed as being detrimental to the economy, so explain how low unemployment rates may also damage the economy in terms of the following:
• productivity and GDP growth
• employee loyalty
• potential inflation
• labor supply & demand
